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Broken Bow (episode)
Earth launches its first starship of exploration, Enterprise, on a mission to return an injured Klingon to his homeworld. Summary Teaser In San Francisco, young Jonathan Archer paints a model of his father's spacecraft. When Jonathan recites a quote from a speech by Zefram Cochrane, Henry Archer opines that the inventor of warp drive would proud if he heard the child. Jonathan curiously asks about his father's ship, reffering to a man he calls "Ambassador Pointy". Henry corrects his son that the man is actually named Soval, an extremely helpful Vulcan. Jonathan responds that, according to another child named Billy Cook, Humans would already be flying at warp five if the Vulcans had not intervened. Although Henry Archer does not fully understand the reasons behind the Vulcans' constraint, he believes that there must be an explanation. Thirty years later, the wreckage of a Klingon ''K'toch''-class scoutship lies in a cornfield in Broken Bow, Oklahoma on Earth. Klaang, the Klingon occupant of the destroyed craft desperately flees from two pursuing aliens. The incident attracts the attention of a farmer named Moore. Although Klaang eventually manages to kill the aliens, he is shot by Moore's plasma rifle. Act One Aboard an inspection pod, Jonathan Archer, now a captain in the Earth Starfleet, and Commander Charles Tucker inspect the prototype NX class starship ''Enterprise'' in orbit of Earth. Later, Archer attends a meeting where a group of high-ranking Starfleet officers, including Admiral Forrest, discuss Klaang with several Vulcan dignitaries - Ambassador Soval, Tos and Subcommander T'Pol. Archer also meets an alien doctor who is providing Klaang with medical care. Eventually, it is decided that Enterprise will launch ahead of schedule on a mission to return Klaang to the Klingons' homeworld, Qo'noS, a decision that infuriates the Vulcans. Aboard the starship, Lieutenant Malcolm Reed and Ensign Travis Mayweather discuss the vessel's transporter. As they walk through a corridor, Mayweather reminisces about his childhood aboard cargo ships. They then enter Engineering, where Reed introduces Mayweather to Commander Tucker. Meanwhile, Archer travels to Brazil and recruits linguist Hoshi Sato as his communications officer. Another addition to Archer's crew is Subcommander T'Pol, who has been assigned as a "chaperone" by the Vulcan High Command to the position of executive and science officer, in exchange for the provision of Vulcan star charts. In the Captain's ready room, T'Pol meets Commander Tucker, gives Archer a padd confirming her new assignment and has an embarrassing encounter with the captain's dog, Porthos. At Enterprise's launch ceremony, Admiral Forrest makes a speech and a recording of a speech by Doctor Zefram Cochrane is played. Meanwhile, in a strange chamber aboard an alien complex, an alien officer confers with a mysterious silhoutte and promises to recover evidence that the figure requires. Act Two Aboard Enterprise, Archer observes a jar full of immunocytic gel worms in sickbay. The doctor he spoke to earlier, a Denobulan in the Interspecies Medical Exchange named Phlox, asks the captain to make sure that he doesn't shake the worms. Archer helps Phlox unpack medical equipment and an Altarian marsupial, an animal that makes the captain squirm. Meanwhile, Travis Mayweather shows Commander Tucker the "sweet spot", an area of every ship where gravity is reversed. Mayweather is a well-travelled "space boomer" and has visited the planets Trillius Prime, Draylax, and both the Teneebian moons. Later, Tucker walks through the ship's mess hall. Although a crewman named Fletcher offers him a seat, he has already been asked to the captain's mess. There, the engineer eats with Archer and T'Pol while they discuss Human evolution. However, all is not well - during a test of the ship's warp reactor, a verbal conflict between Hoshi and T'Pol arises. When Ensign Sato insults T'Pol with a Vulcan insult, the science officer retorts that she was instructed to speak Englishj during her assignment aboard the ship. Later, the vessel loses main power while Archer, Klaang, Hoshi and Phlox are in sickbay. Alien soldiers board Enterprise and attack the Starfleet officers. Klaang recognizes the aliens as Suliban. Although Archer manages to shoot one of the aliens, Klaang is abducted and taken from the ship. Act Three On the bridge, Archer wonders why Enterprise did not detect the Suliban, but Lieutenant Reed informs him that the starboard sensor logs did record a spatial disturbance. The captain assigns the bridge crew to conduct a full investigation into the incident. T'Pol advises Archer to consult Starfleet or the astrometric computer in San Francisco, believing that he has no hope of finding Klaang himself. However, the captain decides not to take the Vulcan's advice and restricts her from contacting Starfleet. In sickbay, Phlox shows Archer the corpse of the alien soldier that was left aboard Enterprise. The doctor has learned that the alien has Suliban DNA, but its anatomy has been altered by genetic modifications of an extremely high quality. In Engineering, T'Pol helps Tucker to review sensor data. Before long, Archer and Hoshi enter. Using Hoshi's translation of Klaang's words and T'Pol's reluctant assistance, Archer learns that Klaang visited Rigel X just before his scoutship crashed on Earth. The captain contacts the bridge, ordering Mayweather to set a course for the tenth planet in the Rigel system. Meanwhile, the alien officer aboard the Suliban complex interrogates Klaang in Klingonese. The Suliban officer asks Klaang where he left a particular unnamed item, but the Klingon claims ignorance. He tells the alien that he was sent to meet a Suliban woman named Sarin on Rigel X, but states that Sarin did not give him anything. As Enterprise approaches the alien planet, Archer and T'Pol brief an away team in the ship's launch bay. Archer informs the officers that Klaang was a courier and tells them to find the person who gave him whatever the Klingon was carrying, as they might know why the Suliban have captured Klaang. The team travel to Rigel X in Shuttlepod 1 and search in a trade complex on the planet's frozen surface. As T'Pol investigates, Tucker finds it hard to accept several aliens that he encounters, including a Lorillian mother and son. Meanwhile, Reed and Mayweather are persuaded to watch a pair of alien females performing with butterflies by a man who claims he saw Klaang. Doubting the man's honesty, the officers soon leave. Elsewhere, Archer and Hoshi see a group of Klingons but they quickly disappear. Soon, the officers are attacked and captured by Suliban. Act Four The alien soldiers imprison Hoshi in a section sealed by a forcefield, where T'Pol and Tucker are also imprisoned. Archer is taken to a woman who looks Human, but her appearance changes after she kisses the captain. The woman's name is Sarin - the same Suliban female that Klaang met on Rigel X earlier. Sarin was once a member of the Cabal, the Suliban military. She informs Archer that the Cabal are following orders from a faction in the Temporal Cold War, a conflict fought through time. The Suliban are promoting internal strife in the Klingon Empire and Klaang was transporting evidence of this back to Qo'noS to prevent a civil war. Sarin offers to help Archer find the Klingon, but agents of the Suliban Cabal discover them and open fire. Although Sarin frees the Starfleet officers, she is killed in the conflict between the Cabal and her small group of renegade Suliban. Archer is injured before escaping in the shuttlepod. With a damaged thruster, the shuttlecraft ascends into the atmosphere as T'Pol contacts Enterprise and announces that she is taking command of the ship. When the captain loses consciousness, he dreams about himself as a child flying his model spacecraft on a beach with his father. He is disappointed when the model crash-lands in the sand, and his father tells him that he can't be afraid of the wind as T'Pol watches from the shore. Act Five Once Shuttlepod 1 returns to Enterprise, T'Pol and Tucker use the Decon chamber to rid themselves of a protocystian spore they picked up on Rigel X. Tucker questions whether he should take command, rather than T'Pol. Six hours later, Archer regains consciousness in sickbay. Phlox removes an osmotic eel from Archer's leg that the doctor was using to cauterize the captain's wound. T'Pol and Tucker visit and the Vulcan informs Archer that they have tracked a Suliban ship that left Rigel X just after the captain was injured. Archer is pleasantly surprised that T'Pol didn't order a course back to Earth, but the Vulcan states that she was obligated to anticipate Archer's wishes. As Enterprise continues to follow the Suliban ship, Archer has trouble making a log entry in his quarters. :"''Enterprise starlog, Captain Jonathan Archer - April 16, 2151. We've been tracking the Suliban ship for ten hours, thanks to our... science officer, who came up with a way to tweak the sensors. I have no reason to believe that Klaang is still alive, but if... what the Suliban woman told me is true, it's crucial that we try to find him. I still haven't decided whether to ask Subcommander T'Pol about this "Temporal Cold War". My instincts tell me not to trust her."'' Looking out his window, he notices that the ship has dropped out of warp. He contacts T'Pol, who asks him to come to the bridge. There, a gas giant is displayed on the viewscreen. The Vulcan notifies Archer that the Suliban craft entered the planet's radiation belt a few hours ago, scattering the vessel's warp trail. T'Pol instructs Reed to run a spectral analysis on fragments he has detected nearby. The bridge crew finds that the fragments were left from fourteen different ships. Realizing that Enterprise has found an area used frequently by the Suliban, Archer orders Reed to activate the ship's weapon systems and to polarise the hull plating. The captain then directs Mayweather to set a course that will take the ship into the planet's atmosphere. Act Six Aboard the alien complex, the Suliban officer talks with the mysterious figure. The officer is unsure whether Sarin gave the crew of Enterprise anything, but he knows that Enterprise has followed a Suliban ship and is nearby. The alien promises that he will destroy the Human vessel before it locates the Suliban Helix, the complex that he is currently aboard. The figure says that he didn't intend for Humans or Vulcans to become involved yet, and demands that the alien must stop Sarin's message from reaching Qo'noS at all costs. In the atmosphere of the gas giant, Enterprise almost loses the warp trail. T'Pol estimates that the ship's condition should improve, shortly before the bridge starts to shudder. The Vulcan uses a viewer at her station to determine that the quakes are being caused by unexpected liquid phosphorus. When the ship's condition improves, the officers detect two Suliban cell ships and the Helix. Hoshi reads more than three thousand bio-signs aboard the alien station, but is unable to find Klaang with the sensors. When the Suliban ships start attacking Enterprise, the starship returns to the phosphorus layer, where the enemy vessels can't find the Starfleet craft. T'Pol reports that the Helix seems to be compromised of hundreds of other vessels, locked together by magnetic seals. When Hoshi finally detects Klaang aboard the complex, Reed suggests using the transporter to get him out but Archer opines that the plan is too risky. The captain decides to use Enterprise's grappler to retrieve one of the attacking cell ships and bring it aboard. In the situation room aft of the bridge, Mayweather later questions Archer and Tucker about the workings of the captured Suliban vessel. As the engineer seems to be slightly unsure of the craft, Mayweather believes that he would make a better pilot. Archer replies that the ensign is needed on board the Starfleet ship and Tucker believes that piloting the Suliban vessel won't be as hard as it seems. In the captain's ready room, T'Pol attempts to discourage Archer from leaving. The captain suspects the Vulcan is displaying emotional concern, but T'Pol claims that the Vulcan High Command would hold her responsible if anything happens to the captain or the engineer. Reed enters, carrying two cases into the room - one holds a magnetic device and the other holds newly designed weapons called phase pistols. According to the lieutenant, the weapons have two settings - stun and kill. Archer and Tucker leave Enterprise, travel to the Helix in the cell ship and find Klaang. Although the Klingon is initially hostile, Archer threatens the alien with his phase pistol. Together, the three men move through the Helix and atack any Suliban guards that approach. The captain instructs Tucker to return to the cell ship with Klaang while Archer stays behind and separates the Helix using the magnetic device. He contacts Tucker and tells the engineer to take Klaang to Enterprise. Tucker complies as several of the swarming enemy ships surrounding the commandeered cell ship collide. Act Seven Tucker ignites the cell ship's thruster exhaust, giving Enterprise a clear indication of the captured ship's position. Aboard the Helix, Archer fights with the alien officer. The alien nearly kills Archer with his own phase pistol, but the captain moves out of the way just in time. The alien chases Archer into another room where a strobing, pulsating light throbs. Just as the alien shoots again, Archer is beamed aboard Enterprise. Tucker apologizes for using the transporter, but claims it was the only way to recover the captain. The starship immediately leaves the gas giant at warp speed. Later, Archer, Klaang, Hoshi and T'Pol enter the Klingon High Council Chamber on Qo'noS. As Klaang addresses the High Council in Klingonese, Hoshi tries her best to interpret his words. According to the linguist, Klaang says something about disgracing the Klingon Empire and mentions that he's ready to die. The Klingon Chancellor approaches Klaang and cuts a small wound in his hand with a jagged dagger. The Klingons then pour some of Klaang's blood into a vial that they examine with a large high-tech apparatus. The extracted DNA contains a wealth of Suliban information, hidden deep within the blood. The Klingons shout in gruff approval, but soon quieten again. The Chancellor nears Captain Archer and, holding the dagger against the captain's throat, says something in Klingonese that Archer interprets as a thanks. Once the Chancellor leaves, Hoshi comments that the captain's interpretation was incorrect, and claims that Archer wouldn't want to know what the Klingon actually said. Aboard Enterprise, Archer tells his crew that the starship's mission is to continue. Tucker begins work on repairing the starship as Archer orders Mayweather to set a course for an inhabited planet nearby. Although there is an ion storm between the starship and its destination, Archer tells Mayweather that he can't be afraid of the wind. The captain remembers himself as a child, standing beside his father as his model spacecraft flew across the sunny morning sky. Background Information *This is the first episode of Star Trek: Enterprise and the only feature-length episode in that series. *With the addition of this episode, Enterprise became the first Star Trek spin-off not to have a character from the previous Trek series appear in its pilot episode. Doctor McCoy was seen briefly in Star Trek: The Next Generation's "Encounter at Farpoint"; Captain Jean-Luc Picard appeared in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's "Emissary"; and Quark had a cameo appearance in Star Trek: Voyager's "Caretaker". Morn also appears in that episode. *Several of the guest characters' names are homages to The Original Series. Admiral Forrest (named after DeForest Kelley), Admiral Leonard (Leonard Nimoy), Commander Williams (William Shatner) and Tos (an abbreviation of T'he '''O'riginal 'S'eries). *Farmer Moore was named after Ronald D. Moore. *Vaughn Armstrong (who holds the record for playing the largest amount of alien guest characters on Star Trek) played his first human role in this episode as Admiral Forrest. The character would continue to appear throughout the series. *James Cromwell reprises his Star Trek: First Contact role, Zefram Cochrane, in this episode, although his name does not appear in the credits. *Sections of Zefram Cochrane's speech were taken from the opening narrations heard in the title sequences of The Original Series and The Next Generation. *Gary Graham, who plays Soval in this episode, previously played Tanis in "Cold Fire", an episode of Star Trek: Voyager. *Thomas Kopache, who plays Tos in this episode, would later play a male Sphere Builder in "Harbinger". He also previously appeared in TNG, DS9 and VOY. *Porthos is the only character, besides the regulars, to appear in both this episode and the finale of the series, "These Are the Voyages...". *The model starship which young Jonathan Archer plays with in flashbacks throughout this episode was designed by illustrator Jim Martin and built by the Paramount prop shop. *This episode's script establishes that the two Teneebian moons that Ensign Mayweather visited when he was young were originally two Andorian moons. *Rigel X was also the last place visited by Enterprise before its decommission in 2161. *This episode marks the first appearance of the Denobulans, in the form of Phlox, although the name of his species would not be revealed until "Terra Nova". *This episode describes the first contact between Earth and the Klingon Empire. The Klingons were, of course, seen on all of the previous Star Trek series, all taking place either one or two centuries after this episode. Other alien races seen on other Star Trek series who were first encountered by the [[Enterprise (NX-01)|NX-01 Enterprise]] include Andorians, Nausicaans, Ferengi, Romulans, the Borg, Tholians, Coridans, Orions, Organians, and, in the Mirror Universe, the Gorn. *Many have claimed that the Klingon-human first contact seen here contradicts canon in that it seems to go against established facts from "First Contact" (TNG). In that episode, Captain Picard noted that initial contact between the two powers was "disasterous" and that it provoked Starfleet to change their First Contact protocols. Most believe the events seen in "Broken Bow" hardly constitute a "disasterous" initial contact, nor would it instigate a change in contact procedure since it was a Klingon who initiated first contact by crash-landing on Earth. However, it is most likely that Picard was referring to repeated contacts throughout the next several decades (such as those witnessed in "Borderland" and "Divergence"), leading to the adversarial relationship in 2218, as mentioned by Dr. McCoy in "Day of the Dove" (TOS). There are some, however, who believe that first contact between humans and Klingons came sooner than it should have as a result of the Temporal Cold War, although that claim is unsubstantiated. *A certain amount of controversy was sparked when it was decided to have the Klingons appear as they did after Star Trek: The Original Series - with their trademark forehead ridges. This caused much speculation and debate among fans as to how the race had evolved from having bony ridges on their foreheads in this episode to having smooth foreheads in Kirk's era. However, an explanation for these differences was finally provided in the fourth season episodes "Affliction" and "Divergence". *The [[Enterprise (NX-01)|NX-01 Enterprise]] would go on to encounter the Klingons in the episodes "Unexpected", "Sleeping Dogs", "Marauders", "Judgment", "Bounty", "The Expanse", "The Augments", "Affliction", and "Divergence". *The Temporal Cold War plot, which began in this episode, would be continued in "Cold Front" and would conclude in "Storm Front, Part II". Memorable Quotes "Where no man has gone before." - Said twice, first by young Jonathan Archer, reciting a speech by Zefram Cochrane, which is heard later. Very first line of the series "Volatile? You have no idea how much I'm restraining myself from knocking you on your ass." - Archer's first words to T'Pol, in response to her claim that humans are not ready to make their own decisions "Keep your shirt on, lieutenant." - Said twice, first by Lieutenant Malcolm Reed doing an impression of Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker, then by Trip, himself. "You can't be afraid of the wind." - Said twice, first at the start of the episode by Henry Archer when young Jonathan Archer was having trouble flying a model starship, then at the end of the episode by Captain Archer, in reply to Ensign Mayweather's suggestion to fly around an ion storm, a minor spatial disturbance "On this site, a powerful engine will be built. An engine that will someday help us to travel a hundred times faster than we can today. Imagine it - thousands of inhabited planets at our fingertips... and we'll be able to explore those strange new worlds, and seek out new life and new civilizations. This engine will let us go boldly... where no man has gone before." - Doctor Zefram Cochrane's speech from the dedication ceremony for the Warp Five Complex, in 2119 "Let's go." - Captain Archer's order to engage warp and depart Earth "Optimism, captain!" - Phlox's advice to Captain Archer, before the Denobulan doctor smiles a massive grin "Ponfo mirann!" - Hoshi's Vulcan insult. According to Rick Berman and Brannon Braga, this phrase can be translated as "Go to hell!" (Episode's audio commentary, ENT Season 1 DVD) Links and References Guest Stars *John Fleck as Silik *Melinda Clarke as Sarin *Tommy "Tiny" Lister, Jr. as Klaang *Vaughn Armstrong as Maxwell Forrest *Jim Beaver as Daniel Leonard *Mark Moses as Henry Archer *Gary Graham as Soval *Thomas Kopache as Tos *Jim Fitzpatrick as Williams *James Horan as Humanoid Figure *Joseph Ruskin as Suliban Doctor *Marty Davis as Young Jonathan Archer *James Cromwell as Zefram Cochrane (uncredited) *Van Epperson as Alien Man *Ron King as Farmer Moore *Peter Henry Schroeder as Klingon Chancellor *Matt Williamson as Klingon Council Member *Byron Thames as Crewman *Ricky Luna as Carlos *Jason Grant Smith as Fletcher *Chelsea Bond as Lorillian Mother *Ethan Dampf as Lorillan Child *Diane Klimaszewski as Butterfly Dancer *Elaine Klimaszewski as Butterfly Dancer *Mark Correy as Alex (uncredited) References 2119; Altarian marsupial; Billy Cook; boomer; decontamination chamber; dockmaster; Draylax; Draylaxian; Elkan Nine; immunocytic gel worm; Klingon language; K'toch class; Linguistic database; orbital inspection pod; osmotic eel; OV-165; phase pistol; protocystian spore; Sector 3641; Earth Starfleet; sweet spot; Teneebian moons; Trillius Prime; valve sealant; Vulcan Compound; Warp Five Complex; warp five engine Category:ENT episodes de:Aufbruch ins Unbekannte, Teil I nl:Broken Bow